EyeSat: A Great Student Adventure Within the French Space Agency Leading Up to Lessons Learned From Orbit

EyeSat has been a tremendous, challenging and successful student project. With 250 students over 7 years, CNES has achieved to put in orbit a 3U CubeSat that carries tens of state-of-the art innovative nanosatellite subsystems resulting from R&D programs carried out within the French space ecosystem. Launched in December 18, 2019, EyeSat has proved to be fully functional in orbit and has started its mission to map the intensity and the polarization direction of the zodiacal light. Housekeeping data, acquired over the past 5 months, has been analyzed by the team. Precious comparisons have been made between design and simulation results on the one hand and actual data on the other. Now, the private company U-Space, created in 2018, leverages those lessons learned from EyeSat and provides space missions based on high-performance nanosatellites

Adaptive divergence despite strong genetic drift: genomic analysis of the evolutionary mechanisms causing genetic differentiation in the island fox (\u3ci\u3eUrocyon littoralis\u3c/i\u3e)

The evolutionary mechanisms generating the tremendous biodiversity of islands have long fascinated evolutionary biologists. Genetic drift and divergent selection are pre- dicted to be strong on islands and both could drive population divergence and specia- tion. Alternatively, strong genetic drift may preclude adaptation. We conducted a genomic analysis to test the roles of genetic drift and divergent selection in causing genetic differentiation among populations of the island fox (Urocyon littoralis). This species consists of six subspecies, each of which occupies a different California Chan- nel Island. Analysis of 5293 SNP loci generated using Restriction-site Associated DNA (RAD) sequencing found support for genetic drift as the dominant evolutionary mech- anism driving population divergence among island fox populations. In particular, pop- ulations had exceptionally low genetic variation, small Ne (range = 2.1–89.7; median = 19.4), and significant genetic signatures of bottlenecks. Moreover, islands with the lowest genetic variation (and, by inference, the strongest historical genetic drift) were most genetically differentiated from mainland grey foxes, and vice versa, indicating genetic drift drives genome-wide divergence. Nonetheless, outlier tests identified 3.6–6.6% of loci as high FST outliers, suggesting that despite strong genetic drift, divergent selection contributes to population divergence. Patterns of similarity among populations based on high FST outliers mirrored patterns based on morphology, providing additional evidence that outliers reflect adaptive divergence. Extremely low genetic variation and small Ne in some island fox populations, particularly on San Nicolas Island, suggest that they may be vulnerable to fixation of deleterious alleles, decreased fitness and reduced adaptive potential

School-based systems change for obesity prevention in adolescents: Outcomes of the Australian Capital Territory 'It's Your Move!'

Objective: The Australian Capital Territory ‘It’s Your Move!’ (ACT-IYM) was a three-year (2012- 2014) systems intervention to prevent obesity among adolescents. Methods: The ACT-IYM project involved three intervention schools and three comparison schools and targeted secondary students aged 12-16 years. The intervention consisted of multiple initiatives at individual, community, and school policy level to support healthier nutrition and physical activity. Intervention school-specific objectives related to increasing active transport, increasing time spent physically active at school, and supporting mental wellbeing. Data were collected in 2012 and 2014 from 656 students. Anthropometric data were objectively measured and behavioural data self-reported. Results: Proportions of overweight or obesity were similar over time within the intervention (24.5% baseline and 22.8% follow-up) and comparison groups (31.8% baseline and 30.6% follow-up). Within schools, two of three the intervention schools showed a significant decrease in the prevalence of overweight and obesity (p<0.05). Conclusions: There was some evidence of effectiveness of the systems approach to preventing obesity among adolescents. Implications for public health: The incorporation of systems thinking has been touted as the next stage in obesity prevention and public health more broadly. These findings demonstrate that the use of systems methods can be effective on a small scale. Key words: Adolescence, systems intervention, obesity, weight status, schools, health promotionThis program was a joint Australian, State and Territory Government initiative under the National Partnership Agreement on Preventative Healt

Ecological correlates of risk and incidence of West Nile virus in the United States

West Nile virus, which was recently introduced to North America, is a mosquito-borne pathogen that infects a wide range of vertebrate hosts, including humans. Several species of birds appear to be the primary reservoir hosts, whereas other bird species, as well as other vertebrate species, can be infected but are less competent reservoirs. One hypothesis regarding the transmission dynamics of West Nile virus suggests that high bird diversity reduces West Nile virus transmission because mosquito blood-meals are distributed across a wide range of bird species, many of which have low reservoir competence. One mechanism by which this hypothesis can operate is that high-diversity bird communities might have lower community-competence, defined as the sum of the product of each species’ abundance and its reservoir competence index value. Additional hypotheses posit that West Nile virus transmission will be reduced when either: (1) abundance of mosquito vectors is low; or (2) human population density is low. We assessed these hypotheses at two spatial scales: a regional scale near Saint Louis, MO, and a national scale (continental USA). We found that prevalence of West Nile virus infection in mosquito vectors and in humans increased with decreasing bird diversity and with increasing reservoir competence of the bird community. Our results suggest that conservation of avian diversity might help ameliorate the current West Nile virus epidemic in the USA

Novel Ancestry-Specific Primary Open-Angle Glaucoma Loci and Shared Biology With Vascular Mechanisms and Cell Proliferation

Primary open-angle glaucoma (POAG), a leading cause of irreversible blindness globally, shows disparity in prevalence and manifestations across ancestries. We perform meta-analysis across 15 biobanks (of the Global Biobank Meta-analysis Initiative) (n = 1,487,441: cases = 26,848) and merge with previous multi-ancestry studies, with the combined dataset representing the largest and most diverse POAG study to date (n = 1,478,037: cases = 46,325) and identify 17 novel significant loci, 5 of which were ancestry specific. Gene-enrichment and transcriptome-wide association analyses implicate vascular and cancer genes, a fifth of which are primary ciliary related. We perform an extensive statistical analysis of SIX6 and CDKN2B-AS1 loci in human GTEx data and across large electronic health records showing interaction between SIX6 gene and causal variants in the chr9p21.3 locus, with expression effect on CDKN2A/B. Our results suggest that some POAG risk variants may be ancestry specific, sex specific, or both, and support the contribution of genes involved in programmed cell death in POAG pathogenesis

Missense mutations that cause Van der Woude syndrome and popliteal pterygium syndrome affect the DNA-binding and transcriptional activation functions of IRF6

Cleft lip and cleft palate (CLP) are common disorders that occur either as part of a syndrome, where structures other than the lip and palate are affected, or in the absence of other anomalies. Van der Woude syndrome (VWS) and popliteal pterygium syndrome (PPS) are autosomal dominant disorders characterized by combinations of cleft lip, CLP, lip pits, skin-folds, syndactyly and oral adhesions which arise as the result of mutations in interferon regulatory factor 6 (IRF6). IRF6 belongs to a family of transcription factors that share a highly conserved N-terminal, DNA-binding domain and a less well-conserved protein-binding domain. To date, mutation analyses have suggested a broad genotype–phenotype correlation in which missense and nonsense mutations occurring throughout IRF6 may cause VWS; in contrast, PPS-causing mutations are highly associated with the DNA-binding domain, and appear to preferentially affect residues that are predicted to interact directly with the DNA. Nevertheless, this genotype–phenotype correlation is based on the analysis of structural models rather than on the investigation of the DNA-binding properties of IRF6. Moreover, the effects of mutations in the protein interaction domain have not been analysed. In the current investigation, we have determined the sequence to which IRF6 binds and used this sequence to analyse the effect of VWS- and PPS-associated mutations in the DNA-binding domain of IRF6. In addition, we have demonstrated that IRF6 functions as a co-operative transcriptional activator and that mutations in the protein interaction domain of IRF6 disrupt this activity

Health system performance for people with diabetes in 28 low- and middle-income countries:A cross-sectional study of nationally representative surveys

International audienceThe prevalence of diabetes is increasing rapidly in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), urgently requiring detailed evidence to guide the response of health systems to this epidemic. In an effort to understand at what step in the diabetes care continuum individuals are lost to care, and how this varies between countries and population groups, this study examined health system performance for diabetes among adults in 28 LMICs using a cascade of care approach

Joint ICOH-WOPS &amp; APA-PFAW global roundtable perspectives : exploring national policy approaches for psychological health at work through the ‘National Policy Index’ lens

Worker psychological health is a significant global imperative which requires national policy action and stakeholder engagement. While national policy is a critical lever for improving worker psychological health, some countries are more progressive than others in relation to policy development and/or implementation. At the Joint Congress of the International Commission on Occupational Health, Scientific Committee on Work Organization and Psychosocial Factors and the Asia Pacific Academy for Psychosocial Factors Work in Tokyo (September 2023), a Global Roundtable was designed to initiate international dialogue and knowledge exchange regarding relevant national policy approaches. The Global Roundtable involved experts from diverse regions alongside an engaged audience of congress attendees and facilitators. Qualitative data were analysed against the five components of the National Policy Index tool, comprising policy priority, specific laws, nation-wide initiatives, sector-oriented initiatives, national survey and/or studies. Analysis revealed that while work-related psychological health is a policy priority across many countries, at the same time, there are global gaps in both legislation specificity and active regulation across different countries. For future policy development across countries, it will be beneficial to continue and deepen international discourse and for countries to share their approaches with others

Adenovirus RID-α activates an autonomous cholesterol regulatory mechanism that rescues defects linked to Niemann-Pick disease type C

Viral subversion of cholesterol homeostasis provides insights into sterol trafficking, autophagy, and lysosomal storage diseases

Multiple cardiovascular risk factor care in 55 low- and middle-income countries:A cross-sectional analysis of nationally-representative, individual-level data from 280,783 adults

The prevalence of multiple age-related cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk factors is high among individuals living in low- and middle-income countries. We described receipt of healthcare services for and management of hypertension and diabetes among individuals living with these conditions using individual-level data from 55 nationally representative population-based surveys (2009–2019) with measured blood pressure (BP) and diabetes biomarker. We restricted our analysis to non-pregnant individuals aged 40–69 years and defined three mutually exclusive groups (i.e., hypertension only, diabetes only, and both hypertension-diabetes) to compare individuals living with concurrent hypertension and diabetes to individuals with each condition separately. We included 90,086 individuals who lived with hypertension only, 11,975 with diabetes only, and 16,228 with hypertension-diabetes. We estimated the percentage of individuals who were aware of their diagnosis, used pharmacological therapy, or achieved appropriate hypertension and diabetes management. A greater percentage of individuals with hypertension-diabetes were fully diagnosed (64.1% [95% CI: 61.8–66.4]) than those with hypertension only (47.4% [45.3–49.6]) or diabetes only (46.7% [44.1–49.2]). Among the hypertension-diabetes group, pharmacological treatment was higher for individual conditions (38.3% [95% CI: 34.8–41.8] using antihypertensive and 42.3% [95% CI: 39.4–45.2] using glucose-lowering medications) than for both conditions jointly (24.6% [95% CI: 22.1–27.2]).The percentage of individuals achieving appropriate management was highest in the hypertension group (17.6% [16.4–18.8]), followed by diabetes (13.3% [10.7–15.8]) and hypertension-diabetes (6.6% [5.4–7.8]) groups. Although health systems in LMICs are reaching a larger share of individuals living with both hypertension and diabetes than those living with just one of these conditions, only seven percent achieved both BP and blood glucose treatment targets. Implementation of cost-effective population-level interventions that shift clinical care paradigm from disease-specific to comprehensive CVD care are urgently needed for all three groups, especially for those with multiple CVD risk factors